As you might expect, there is a story behind this picture. This is a picture of my uncle Frank Willard Turney. We called him “Big.” He was my favorite uncle. We spent a lot of time together, and I asked him for a picture. Told him I would take it any way he wanted. Uncle Big was a true cowboy, and most cowboys did not like having their picture taken. Big was one of those cowboys so he politely declined. Years later after I had asked for that picture, he pulled this picture out of his back pocket and told me, “I know you wanted this. We all dressed up a little.” This is the picture he gave me. It was folded, faded, and dirty, but it was my picture of my uncle “Big.”
Time passed and that picture was lost in our belongings. Fiddling through a box one day, that picture suddenly showed up!
I sent it to the Fort Worth Photography studio to see if they could help it any. Boy did they ever!
Isn’t that just incredible? My Uncle “Big” dressed up, dog with a bath, and the horse all brushed-just waiting to roll in the dirt.
short stories 